The trial aimed to maxim yield of the number of plum cuttings per branch. Growing shoots of two plum cultivars (Reubennel and Pluma 7) were used. The apical portion with diameter shorter than 2 mm was eliminated. The mini-cuttings were obtained by making a 0.5 cm cut above the bud and another one next to the subsequent bud. The mini-cuttings were immersed in a solution of IBA 2000 mg.L-1 for five seconds. As control, a solution composed of distilled water mixed with the same volume of methyl alcohol was used to dissolve the IBA solution. The mini-cuttings were placed to root in an expanded polyesterene tray containing a mixture of rice husk ash and vermiculite (2:1 v/v) as substrate. Half of this material was covered with (20 micra) thick transparent plastic and the other part without it. The experiment was carried out in a complete randomized block by using a factorial 2x2x2 (cultivar, IBA and plastic film) with four replications and fifteen mini-cuttings per plot. After 39 days the percentage of rooting, root number and length were evaluated. Pluma 7 cultivar showed the highest rooting ptential and the highest sensibility to IBA. One - bud cuttings are able to form root. It is possible to obtain rooted cuttings with the whole shoot when they are treated with IBA. It was observed that plastic film reduced the root cutting . IBA increases the rooting, the number and root length of the studied cultivars.
indolbutiric acid; temperature; propagation; Prunus salicina
